The Forging of the Ashen Demon
by Boopittydoop
Summary: Rhea did something to Jeralt's son, and his baby was now dying as a result. In a panic, Jeralt left Garreg Mach in search of a healer who could heal his son. However, in his desperation, he may have not completely considered the side effects of condemning his son to a life of metal flesh.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The baby wasn't crying. As Jeralt held his beloved son in his arms, a deep unsettling feeling settled in his gut, and it terrified him. Years of experience on the battlefield taught him the importance of listening to his instincts, and everything screamed at the unnaturalness of the recent events.

Lady Rhea told him that his wife died from childbirth. At the news, he collapsed onto his knees and desperately tried to avoid breaking down in front of the leader of all of Fodlan. He begged Lady Rhea to see the dead body of his wife in order to say his last good byes. He was denied this simple wish. Shocked at the denial, Jeralt looked in disbelief at Lady Rhea's face. Her face was not of sympathy at the heartbroken form of a widowed husband, but a cold calculating look of a murderer. Jeralt knew what the face of a murderer looked like for he killed many murderers himself. Never did he think the day would come when he would see such a face in Lady Rhea's face.

His baby. He named him Byleth for it was the name Jeralt and his wife agreed on. There was something wrong with Byleth. The baby did not cry. All babies cried when they took their first breath of fresh air. His did not. He pleaded with Rhea to allow a doctor to have a look at his baby to see if there were any medical problems. Once more she refused. Her eyes were that of a madman. Jeralt knew the face of a madman for he killed many madmen in his time as a knight.

The next few days Byleth's condition only grew worse. The baby was squirming and twisting in pain. Byleth's face was one of pure agony, yet no cry came from his lips no matter how wide the baby opened its mouth. At long last, Jeralt had enough. He snuck in a doctor for a long overdue examination. The doctor's diagnosis was chilling. The baby had a pulse, yet no heartbeat. The baby's entire flesh was undergoing necrosis due to it rejecting something. There was another highly suspicious report. There was a small scar over Byleth's heart indicating an incision. There was nothing more the doctor could do, and the doctor said that the baby only had a week left.

At this moment, Jeralt's world came crashing down on him. First, his wife left him. Now, Byleth, his wife's only legacy, was going to leave him as well. He rushed outside and heaved out the remains of his last meal. His belly empty, he broke down and cried in the empty courtyard. He continued to cry until no more tears came out. Multiple thoughts ran through his mind; suicide one among them. Yet, his wife would hardly forgive him if he took such a cowardly action. Not only that Byleth wasn't dead yet. There had to be someone, something out there that could heal him. His travels as a mercenary and knights allowed him to hear many stories of impossible miracles and cures. There had to be something out there, and if his memory served him right, there was. There were tales of a mysterious healer that could bring back the dead who lived in the southern mountain range of the Adestian Empire. As thanks for saving their village, the town elder told him about a yellow sanded path that lead deep into the mountains and directly to this mysterious healer. In order to see this sand; however, one needed a fairy stone. Jeralt reached his hand deep into his pocket and rubbed the stone as he contemplated the authenticity of the village elder's story.

With hope once more in his heart, he regained his posture and decided to return to Byleth's room. He left his baby alone long enough. If Jeralt's search ended up fruitless… Byleth's time in this world was already short, and Jeralt would never forgive himself if his baby passed away alone. At the very least, he should spend as much time as possible before…

As he walked down the corridor toward Byleth's room, he noticed a moon-lit shadow coming from the nursery. Placing his hand on the sword, he crept closer and was stunned to see Lady Rhea standing over Byleth. The words that came out of Rhea's mouth would shatter Jeralt's image of her.

"Just another failure." Words that were in stark contrast to the expected behavior of an archpriest came from her lips.

Jeralt's hand on his sword's handle tightened. The three words told an entire story. Rhea was the one responsible for his baby's state. Judging by Rhea's refusal to let Jeralt see his wife's dead body, she may have been responsible for his wife's death as well. The word "another" told of an even darker history. How many families did Rhea destroy? How many babies did she kill?

His legs and arms tensed. His eyes focused as he prepared to go in for a kill. A simple dash and a stab through the heart would be more than Rhea deserves for what she has done. However, just before he dashed in, the chattering of students going back to their dorms after some late night study pulled him away from his tunneled vision.

It gave enough time for reason to catch up to Jeralt. Even if Jeralt did rush in, he highly doubted he could actually succeed in assassinating her. Despite Jeralt's reputation as a swordsman and the nickname Blade Breaker, he has seen Rhea fight, and he had no confidence in his ability to defeat her. Raising his sword against her was just asking for death. He couldn't die just yet. Not before exhausting all options of saving Byleth. Not before he takes Byleth to the legendary healer. With those thoughts, his mind was made up.

Jeralt rode long and hard as he left behind the flaming buildings of Garreg Mach. He knew that certain parts of the building were quite susceptible to fire, and there were always reports coming to his and Rhea's desk warning of the dangers. It wasn't hard setting fire to building that held Byleth's nursery as well as Rhea's office. Judging by the enraged screams of the archbishop, Jeralt knew that Rhea survived and couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment even though he knew that Rhea would be able to avoid the fire. It was a good thing that the Garreg Mach had captured a couple of cultists a few days before. Jeralt needed scapegoats if he wanted to avoid the full blow of the hammer of the church's will. What better way of blaming it on the cultists by slipping them a key and placing a pile of flammable material under one of the prisoner's bed.

For five days and night, he rode as hard as he could toward the mountain ranges, resting only to feed Byleth. Every day, Byleth grew weaker and his silent screams only grew louder. It soon became clear that the only reason why Byleth was failing to cry was because his throat was badly wounded. As the journey continued, Jeralt was forced to watch his baby's body slowly turn black save for a circle over the baby's heart.

Cursing Rhea's name, Jeralt rode as fast as he could for time was against him. He could feel Byleth's struggles grow weaker and weaker as time passed. By the time he finally arrived at the mountains six days later, it was hard to tell if the baby was still alive. The entire baby's body was a deathly shade of pale green. The smell of death started to emit from the body. One would think that the famous Blade Breaker was carrying around the corpse of a dead baby if one did not notice the small shaky breaths and the desperate grabbing motions of the baby as it futilely tried to grab something that could stop its suffering.

Taking the stone from his pocket, he hesitated. Surely, this wasn't a pipe dream. Surely, the village elder wasn't actually joking? This was the moment of truth. With a deep breath, Jeralt lifted the stone to his eye and looked through the hole in the middle of the stone. Jeralt gasped as a sudden yellow path appeared through the forest. He looked away from the stone only for the path to disappear as if it never existed. Looking back through the hole, hope began welling in Jeralt as he realized that his baby had a chance.

Jeralt practically ran through the forest smashing through the branches and trampling through the bushes with the sole goal of reaching the healer as fast as possible. At last, he reached a clearing with a house in the middle of the field. Dim light came through one of the windows. He quickly came up to the door and knocked.

"… Ughh… Seriously? No one is home right now. Go away."

Jeralt kicked the door down and walked right in. A black haired man was sitting near the fire place sipping tea with boxes all around him.

"Look, in a few moments, I have to leave. If I miss this alignment, I'll have to wait another 15 years for the stars to realign again to make the jump. I'm truly sorry for…"

Jeralt heard enough as he grasped the stranger's collar, hauled him to his feet, and smashed him to the wall. "_Then wait another 15 years. _I have ridden for 6 days straight in the hopes that you would be able to help my infant son. You WILL not tell that you are unable to help me due to some petty reason."

The man looked back at him amused. "Do you know who I am?"

"No. I don't care. Just please. Help my son." Jeralt stared at the man's dark brown eyes as a challenge. Daring him to say no. The man stared back taking in the desperation that oozed out of Jeralt. Suddenly, recognition came over the man's face.

"You're the Blade Breaker."

"Yes I am."

"Well… Fine. I guess I owe you for saving that village. They made good alcohol, and it would be a shame if that village got burned to the ground so I am grateful that you save it. Fine. Let me see the… Oh…"

Jeralt carefully untied Byleth from his back and showed the frail body of his infant son to the famed healer. After a quick glance at the baby and making sure that he was still alive, the slightly tan healer flicked his hands, and the lids of the boxes opened by themselves. Immediately, the box's contents began to float up without physical assistance and began arranging themselves all over the room. Jeralt's eyes widened at the mastery of magic that this mysterious healer was displaying. The healer carefully took Byleth from Jeralt's stunned hands and began performing various tests with equipment that Jeralt didn't even know exist.

He stood there son as the machines made beeping noises and occasionally showed flashes of light. Jeralt lost count of time as the healer did his mysterious work on the baby. He didn't know that he dozed off in a chair until he felt himself being shook awake by his baby's potential savior. He was handed a cup of tea which he graciously accepted as the stranger took a seat opposite of him.

"Where should I start… Your baby should be dead. There is no questions about that. The only reason he is still alive is because _something_ is in his heart. The same something that caused his condition in the first place." Jeralt crushed the cup, and tea spilled all over the floor.

"What?"

"Here." The man handed Jeralt a picture. "This is something called an X-ray. It takes a picture of all the… inside of the human body. You can see your baby's ribs, outline of his lungs, his heart, and finally, this stone right next to the heart." Jeralt trembled as his worst fears were confirmed. Rhea did something to his son.

Taking Jeralt's silence as a signal to continue, the man continued speaking. "This stone… the baby's body and mana signature is… reacting poorly to this stone. It's created a fatal synergy of mana, resulting in… his current state. However, the stone is also forcing your baby to stay alive. There is no easy way to say this, but your son is dying quite the painful death right now. I can give some medicine to ease his pain, but…"

"But?"

"There is not much else I can do for him." Jeralt looked at the man's eyes. He saw emotions that should have been on Rhea's face. Yet, they shared one similar feature.

"_Don't_ lie to me. I've dealt with many nobles, and I've found that I've got a good instinct when detecting lies. There is something you can do for him, isn't there?"

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You do have good instincts. However, you have no idea what you are asking for. You may end up condemning your baby to a fate _worse than death_."

"Humor me. Tell me of this method."

"If I simplify as best as possible, I entomb the remains of your baby's organs into a metal body. Your boy will grow up in a body not made of flesh, but one made of metal. Your son will not know the pleasure of taste and touch. His brain was heavily damaged, so there is a need to replace certain parts with artificial parts. However, this means that he will grow up emotionally stunted. He will not grow up as a normal human. Is this the fate you wish to condemn him to?"

Jeralt paused as he sank into his chair. It was a few long moments before he could speak. "I loved her. She was the sun in my darkest days. She was the ones who chased away my monsters. When life started to lose meaning, she gave meaning to my life."

The man watched with sympathy and understanding beckoning Jeralt to continue. "She's gone now. I… I couldn't even say good bye to her body. During the funeral, it was only an empty casket they lowered into the grave… and… and all I've got now is Byleth. He is all I have left of her. I… I can't lose him. Not him too. I… I'll take full responsibility. Even if he doesn't grow up normally, I'll try my very best at raising him. I don't care if he ends up looking like a monster. He is my Byleth and that will never change."

The man nodded in understanding. "So be it."

He stood up and walked over to a carpet, removing it to reveal a trapdoor. "Get Byleth and come on down."

Nodding, Jeralt followed the man's orders and entered the hidden trapdoor. It was a long way down, and the sight that greeted Jeralt at the bottom made him gasp in surprise. Mysterious lights were flashing from numerous machines. Numerous bottles of all sizes held organisms that Jeralt has never seen before. He saw strange designs of swords and massive sophisticated plate armor lining the walls. He came over to a work bend and picked up an axe, nearly dropping it when it suddenly sprang to life as lightning ran through the blade.

The sound of what seemed like praying grabbed Jeralt's attention as he found the man kneeling at some sort of altar. " From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me. I craved the strength and certainty of steel. I aspired to the purity of the blessed machine. The others cling to their flesh, as if it will not decay and fail them. One day the crude biomass that they call a temple will wither and they will beg my kind to save them. But I am already saved, for the machine is immortal… even in death I serve the Omnissiah."

As soon as the prayer finished, the room's machine occupants exploded into life. Gears started turning, bottles began glowing a dark green color, and a rattling sound could be heard from deep with the hallways that branched out from the room. He saw the man begin wearing some sort of red robe.

Jeralt couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"

"A planeswalker that had gotten some training from a Techpriest. Now… Shall we begin?"

**Probably going to be a one-shot. Don't know. Just an idea I had and I wrote it down. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Huh. People actually read what I wrote… I would just like to clarify something. The planeswalker is not going to stay in the story for very long. He will be gone after this chapter. As a result, he won't have any direct impacts on the story. **

Chapter 1

"Happy 15th birthday, Byleth!" A small, modest mercenary group of 53 mercenaries cheered and raised their mugs as a massive white cake was placed in front of a teenager with dark blue hair. Despite the cheery atmosphere and everybody's smiles, the boy merely maintained a poker face, not even grinning at the festivities. Noticing this, the mercenaries laughed even louder.

"That's our Byleth!"

"Forever with the frozen face!"

"3 cheers for the Ashen Demon!"

"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

Once the cheering stopped, Byleth raised a mug and spoke with an emotionally neutral tone, "To another successful battle."

A thundering approval came throughout the ranks as everyone drank deeply and began dispersing to enjoy the massive feast that was laid out over the numerous table scattered over the ballroom which a noble graciously lent to the Iron Fists mercenary group for successfully crushing a bandit group that was preying on an economically important road. It was a resounding victory due to another of Byleth's impeccable strategy. Ever since Jeralt officially appointed his 13-year-old son as the Iron Fist's tactician, they have not a single battle for two years.

While everyone was enjoying the delicious sweets and succulent meals, Byleth quietly slipped away after talking with a couple of mercenaries who played a pivotal role in the battle. He went into a well-hidden backroom where he found his adoptive uncle sipping coffee alone reading a book about relationships between quantum physics and mana. He didn't even look up from his book to ask, "Why aren't you at your party?"

"I could not get into the festive mood. I still cannot understand what it means to truly 'celebrate' a birthday party. After a while, I have gotten this desire to go and do something productive. However, as I have been banned from doing any training or paperwork on my birthday, I have decided to instead come to you instead of standing around doing nothing. It was quite an awful experience."

"Just say that you got bored. I guess I should congratulate you on _finally_ learning the concept of boredom. Also, I always tell you, celebrations involve talking with friends, eating good food, getting drunk, and sharing exciting stories."

"And I must always remind you that I have no friends in my age group. In addition, I am unable to taste due to a lack of taste buds, and the last time I got drunk I almost wiped out an entire mountain from losing control of my weapon systems. As for stories that anyone would have interest in, I have nothing unless you count the seizures I have gotten as a childhood due to errors in the neural link."

His uncle winced at the last sentence. "Yeah. Those seizures… You don't have those anymore, right? I'm pretty sure…"

"No, I have not had a single seizure for the past five years." Byleth interrupted.

"Well, that's good. As for the rest, I am still researching for a way to replicate taste buds for you. I'm still trying to make an automatic lock for your weapons. As for friends… You already know the dangers of what happens when people find out about you." Byleth nodded in affirmation. During the early years of Byleth's childhood, there were many glitches and issues with his body that had to be fixed. However, one of the worst instances was when his cloaking device failed when they were in the middle of shopping in a village. Jeralt barely escaped the mob without resorting to violence.

It was then that Jeralt decided to train Byleth as a mercenary. As a mercenary, one would continuously be moving searching for the next job and thereby reducing the chance of someone realizing the truth about Byleth's condition. Mercenaries also tended not to ask many question as long as their basic needs were fulfilled and were properly paid. Jeralt realized early on that Byleth was never going to properly fit into village life so the mercenary option was the realistically the only path open to Byleth to Jeralt's great regret.

"How's your necrodermis holding up?" Byleth closed his eyes and proceeded to do a quick internal scan of his body.

"So far the results are as expected. All damage from the previous battle has been healing properly."

His uncle breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok. That's a relief. At least, my raid on that Necron tomb way back then was actually worth a damn… and it's a good thing that my master doesn't see this, or he would be freaking out at the heresy I am committing."

"I still do not understand the need for the need to switch to necrodermis. I am now much more vulnerable to magic-based attacks as a result compared to my previous plasteel and ceramite frame."

"I already told you. Soon, I'll be going away so I won't be able to continue to repair damages to your body. You do not have the skill nor technology to be able to mess around with either of those two materials nor do I have to time to teach it to you. As a result, necrodermis was the best option. There is a reason why its nickname is 'living metal'. The heightened weakness to mana-based attacks is a good trade-off in my opinion."

"I do not understand why you must go away?"

His uncle merely smiled sadly and patted Byleth's shoulders. "One day… if you manage to live as long as me, you will understand why it is difficult for someone to stay in one area for too long."

"Please clarify."

"I cannot clarify without going into a certain part of my past, which is something I wish to keep buried. Also, you'll probably accuse me of lying like my description of the Necrons."

"The data I have point to the impossibility of the existence of the Necrons."

"Well, that's because you don't have enough data. If you actually been to that hell hole of a universe, you would know how damn scary they are. Trust me when I say that they are an enemy you really don't want to fight. Even me, a planeswalker is hesitant to go against them. They are far scarier than you think. Trust me."

"Yet the last time you said the words 'trust me', I ended up getting attacked by a mother Kodiak bear."

With a roll of his eyes, his uncle responded, "It was for your own good. You learned what sarcasm was after that."

"In addition to fear, annoyance, anger, and sadistic joy."

"Yeah… I wasn't expecting you to learn what joy was from watching Jeralt punching me in the face…"

"It was very enjoyable."

"At least, you got something out of watching Jeralt beat me up."

"Actually, my father failed to beat you up for your were hardly affected by his punches."

"Technicalities." Byleth's uncle was about to take another sip of his coffee before he realized something.

"Sothis has been really quiet so far. How is she?" Byleth merely shrugged and pointed out that she was still sleeping.

Sothis was quite an anomaly. One day, Jeralt came upon Byleth talking to the air as if someone was there. At first, it was dismissed as a simple imaginary friend, but it was eventually found out to be another soul that was coexisting with Byleth. It didn't take a genius to find out what Rhea's motives were after finding out that the soul's name was Sothis. This realization only increased Jeralt's motivation to keep Byleth away from the church's hands which was why he refused to go deep into Fodlan and only stayed on the outskirts despite the more lucrative offers that existed inland.

"Would you like to speak to her? I can wake her up."

"No need. You know how annoying that little shit can get." It was then that Jeralt entered the room.

"Hey, Plutonius! Have you seen… Oh there you were, Byleth! Why aren't you at the party?"

"It seems that I have gotten bored according to uncle."

"That's great! At least, it was for a more human reason this time. We can work on learning how to enjoy yourself at celebrations later. We can teach you about relaxing one step at a time."

"Understood father."

"Do you mind if I talk to Plutonius in private? I have something I need to clarify with him." With a nod, Byleth stood up and walked away.

"And NO WORKING! Take the day off for Goddess's sake!" A neutral affirmative came from the hallway. Jeralt then plopped down on the chair on the opposite end of the rather small table.

"Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Jeralt gladly took a cup from the planeswalker and took a small sip of the strong liquid.

"Ahh… Due to how isolated Fodlan is, it's so difficult to get hands on coffee beans. The merchants always ridiculously price it. 1000 gold for a single pound of coffee! Ridiculous! And here you are shitting out this delicious drink like it's nothing."

Plutonius's only response was to grunt and take another sip of coffee. "Why did you want to talk with me?"

"I just wanted to give proper thanks for all that you have done for me and Byleth. After you gave him that body, you didn't have to stick with us, but you did and continuously helped with raising Byleth and upgrading his body to be more human-like. You have given me so much and…"

"Yeah. Stop right there. I don't need any more of that. I didn't help you out of the goodness out of my heart. I used Byleth to get a lot of data regarding replacement of flesh with metal on an infant. Also, if I didn't follow along, you would have killed Byleth from sheer incompetence, and I would rather that Byleth not die so soon after saving him."

"Oh, come on. I wasn't that bad."

"Jeralt. 15 years ago, you thought that it was ok to feed cow milk to an infant. _Cow milk_. What the fuck were you thinking? Cow milk is for cows!"

"Hey, he was alright when I fed him cow milk on the journey to find you."

"That's because he was already dying from that stupid soulstone!" Jeralt winced at the mention of the stone. He was still weirded out that there was a spirit, who "coincidently" shared the name of the goddess that the church worshipped, who was living in Byleth's head. He just found it easier to consider Sothis as an adopted daughter. Although it could get quite awkward, when a girl's voice came from Byleth's voice modulator.

"By the way," Jeralt skillfully changed the subject, "did you really have to give Sothis a voice modulator on the same body as Byleth? It can get _really _awkward when I hear two voices coming from one body. Couldn't you have just made another body for her?"

"Can't because of how intertwined they are. Also, I didn't want to make one for her at first, but that little moldy chihuahua wouldn't let me sleep for an entire week with her constant yapping until I made one for her. Now she is constantly bemoaning about the lack of taste buds and giving me sly looks every time she says so. You should consider it a blessing that you can't see her nor hear her without the voice modulator."

"Oh yeah… How's the tongue working out?"

"Just a bit more work, and I'll be able to give Byleth a tongue that will allow him to taste salt, sour, bitter, and umami."

"No sweets or any other tastes?"

"Yeah. To my greatest regret, Byleth won't be able to enjoy the pleasure of eating sweets… The problem I ran into was that eating something sweet sort of activates the reward centers like dopamine. I haven't managed to perfect connecting the taste to his brain.. so all my simulations ended up with Byleth getting a chronic addiction to everything sweet if I gave him the ability. This is the best I could do considering I'll leave in a month. I'll give the tongue to him as a farewell present." Jeralt sighed deeply as he realized that one of his closest friends was going to leave in a month.

"I'll be sorry to see you go."

"Not going to try and convince me to stay like all the other times."

"No. I've learned to accept it. I'm just worried about how Byleth will react."

"I imagine he will learn what loss and sadness will feel like. And don't worry too much. You don't need me anymore to help him. You'll do a fine job taking care of him by yourself. Just continue your travels and continue teaching Byleth what it means to _live_. By the way, did you have the talk with him?"

"Yeah. I told him about the church and all that after the battle. He… umm…. took it well?"

"So… does that mean he isn't going to go all Terminator on the church? I don't need to physically restrain him?" It took Jeralt 10 years of watching movies from Plutonius's portable tv set to finally learn what most of his allusions were.

"Well… he said something along the lines of: 'Father. You need not worry about me doing anything reckless. I have no desire to place my family in danger, and the power of the church is currently too strong. I am not one to act recklessly.'"

He watched as Plutonius's cringed as realization set it. "Damn. That _currently_ word can have some nasty implications later on. You will do your best to stop him from doing something stupid like trying to assassinate the head of the church and tell him how doing so will result in the deaths of millions of people due to the resulting instability?"

"I'll try. I plan on moving around more and try to keep him occupied with other stuff."

"Damn it… I was planning on giving him a droid battalion for his birthday present today. I guess I'll just give him a pen and instead give the commands of the droids to you for safekeeping."

Jeralt raised his eyebrows. "I thought we agreed on limiting the types of weapons that we can give him."

"Just let me spoil my adoptive nephew. I've always wanted to be 'that' uncle. It's a pleasant feeling, and FYI, the droids were equipped with the muzzle loading black powder rifles instead of Lasguns so I _did _limit the weaponry." He ignored the eye roll that came from Jeralt. "Also, you did have that _other_ talk with him, right? Ever since we started the hormone treatment about a year ago, I've noticed that he _has_ been acting weirdly around prostitutes at times."

Jeralt groaned. "Don't remind me. He doesn't even have the thing, right?"

"I gave him a prosthetic so he will be able to have children at the very least… But he won't feel a single thing from the act."

"Anything you can do about that? How am I able to talk with him about becoming a man when he is unable to enjoy one of the most important thing of being a man?"

"I may be many things, but a miracle worker is not one of them. Just… uhh… try your best?"

Jeralt once more groaned and ended up smashing his head onto the table. "Never in my entire life did I imagine I will run into this problem."

"Cheer up. At least, you didn't have to deal with Slannesh cultists."


	3. Chapter 3

Jeralt decided to check up on Byleth to see how he was doing after the nasty fall. The Iron Fists were helping out with building a new barn in Remire village when Byleth, who was working on the roof tiles, fell through the roof. As if that wasn't enough, it turned out that the entire barn wasn't structurally sound, so the walls and the roof all came crashing down on Byleth. It came as no surprise to the mercenaries and a surprise to the villagers when Byleth calmly walked out of the ruins as if a barn did not collapse on top of him and began scolding one of the workers for not properly checking if the foundations were properly set.

The mercenaries were already used to Byleth's near invincibility and merely shrugged off the whole incident, but Jeralt's fatherly instincts wanted to make sure that Byleth was alright. Even though he knew Byleth could take an axe to the face with no problems, it still worried him to see Byleth get hit in the face with a goddess damned axe.

Jeralt soon arrived at the carriage that Byleth called home. Although in the outside, it looked like a humble roofed carriage, the inside was anything but. Due to the use of space manipulation magic, the inside of the carriage was far bigger than the outside dimensions. It was Plutoniu's' present for Byleth's 14th birthday. He approached Byleth's door and knocked while saying, "It's me."

"Come in." Jeralt entered to see Byleth with his camouflage shield turned off lying down on his bed partly covered by his bedsheets as a cloud of metal nanoscopic things were running around his body. If someone other than Jeralt saw how Beralt looked without his camouflage shield, they would be out of the door screaming demon. His true form did have a huge influence on his title as the Ashen Demon which he obtained when others saw his true form after he received a hit to the chest by a war hammer from some type of crest wielder. It was a hard enough hit to destabilize his shield that it showed his true form for a few seconds. Long enough that a couple of people saw it, but not long enough to be unable to convince people that it was merely a hallucination from the stresses of the battlefield.

However, it was enough for rumors to spread about how Byleth was partly possessed by a demon in the shape of a human skeleton made of metal that glowed a deathly green. How the demon gave him the strength of a hundred men and to be invulnerable to all weapons wielded by mankind. It also didn't help that Byleth used intimidation tactics such as punching out a man's heart in order to cause a route faster. Soon everyone who has heard about the Iron Fist's mercenaries began believing that Byleth had some sort of demon hiding within him. The rumors were all correct minus two points. The demon was in actuality Byleth's true form, and Byleth was not invulnerable to every weapon. The necrodermis or the living metal that made up his body was quite weak to mana based attacks. Plutonius did explain the reason for such weakness; however, Jeralt could not understand it at all. Something about how the warp was similar to mana. Jeralt trusted Byleth to understand the limitations of his body.

Either way, it saddened Jeralt to see that Byleth's true form was closer to that of a Necron than that of a human. He prayed that one day Byleth would find someone that will accept all of who Byleth is rather than the fake image his camouflage screen displays to keep his identity safe.

"Father?" Jeralt snapped himself from his thoughts when he realized that he spent a bit too long staring at his son.

"Were there any injuries?"

"No. So far, the scans and the nanoscarabs reveal no damage other than some scratches which the nanoscarabs are repairing at the moment." Jeralt nodded until a higher pitched voice came bursting out from the same body.

"No damage! Hah! Dad! You have no idea how close Byleth was to completely losing his…" Byleth immediately covered the voice modulator for Sothis and only muffling could be heard.

Jeralt raised his eyebrow. "What was Sothis trying to say?"

Byleth continued staring at his father with his green glowing 'eyes' and said nothing. Jeralt immediately found out that Byleth was trying to 'look innocent'. Jeralt sighed and rubbed his temples. "Byleth. That won't work in this situation since the cat is out of the bag. _What_ happened?"

Byleth merely replied. "Sothis is merely exaggerating. Nothing… Sothis will you PLEASE cease speaking this instant!"

The screeching from the voice modulator only increased as Byleth desperately tried to muffle Sothis from tattling on Byleth. Jeralt watched with amusement. It took a while, but Jeralt was getting used to having a son and an adopted daughter who also was suspected to be THE goddess sharing a single body. It certainly leads to enjoyable sibling spats like this. However, there was something far more important.

Jeralt knelt down next to Byleth and stared straight at his son. "_What _happened?"

He saw Byleth glare at the end of his bed indicating that Sothis was probably floating around that general direction. Jeralt followed Byleth's gaze and asked the invisible Sothis, "Sothis. What happened?"

After turning his head back to glare at Byleth, Byleth relented and released his hand from Sothis's voice box. Sothis gladly tattled. "Byleth fell down awkwardly and smashed his testicular region on a wooden beam during the fall. He completely smashed it." Hooting sounds of laughter came from the vice box.

"My testicles are not smashed."

"I stand by what I said." Jeralt got the implied meaning coming from Sothis and facepalmed.

"You smashed the family jewels so you used a time snap to fall down properly this time. Byleth, what did I tell you?" Byleth realizing he has been caught decided to drop the act of feigning ignorance.

"To take great care of the few human organs I have left due to uncle no longer being here." Jeralt nodded and continued scolding Byleth.

"You know that healing staves aren't effective on you due to the necrodermis's inability to handle the flow of mana. You have to treat them with care from now on since Plutonius can't heal them for you anymore!"

"Father. I understand completely. I have taken steps to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. I have added a small suspension system around the nether regions using the nanoscarabs that will distribute the force more efficiently should I face a similar accident." Jeralt nodded satisfied. He then patted Byleth's shoulder.

"I like how you are always on top of things."

"Yes, Father. I always make sure I am on the top."

"Was that a dirty joke?"

"Yes." Jeralt laughed proud at all the small steps that Byleth was making in becoming more human. Byleth patiently waited for his father to stop laughing in order to bring up a certain issue.

"Father… Last night, Sothis and I have been having those dreams." Jeralt's expression became more serious.

"Is it about that battle?"

A small pause before a girl's voice came from Byleth. "They are becoming clearer. I have the feeling that something big is about to begin."

Jeralt sighed at the words. The dreams of a battle that have been plaguing Byleth and Sothis for the past 2 years. They started around his 20th birthday. At first, he thought it was some silly dream, but due to Sothis's suspicions that they were something more, he decided to take them more seriously.

"Sothis. Anything new? Do we need to take another trip to Zanado? Are we sure that they are glimpses of the future?"

Sothis spoke up. "No need to go to Zanado. Other than that place being once my home, no new memories pop up. No new memories _still_… but… I can't help, but I feel that the dream was about the past. The prelude. The_ beginning_ of the trials that we may soon face."

Jeralt wished that Plutonius was here. He would have known what to do in these types of situations that involved time manipulation. It was Plutonius that helped train Byleth and Sothis with their "Divine Pulses" or time snaps. Jeralt began thinking about Byleth's 15th birthday present. Or perhaps he did know. Every present that Plutonius gave had a purpose behind them. With Plutonius's expertise with time and space manipulations, it would come as no surprise to Jeralt if Plutonius could look into the future. However, that was thoughts for another time and place.

Jeralt flicked Byleth's forehead and instantly regretted it. As he nursed his poor finger, he decided to impart some wisdom to Byleth and Sothis. "It's no use worrying about it now. If we keep worrying about what is to come, we will lose track of what is happening right now. As mercenaries, we need to keep our minds sharp or we will lose our lives. I know you have those time snaps, but even they are limited in what they can do. I'm sure that Plutonius taught you the dangers of messing with time, yes?"

Byleth nodded in agreement. "I will be sure to not let my thoughts interfere during battle."

"And I will make sure to keep an eye out for Byleth's back!" Sothis exclaimed.

Jeralt chuckled. "That's the spirit. Come on. Let's get some chow. Did anything special today?"

"Train. Did some experiments."

"Experiments? Trying to get that tongue to taste sweets?"

Sothis spoke up. "Of course! Why that awful prick! How dare he run away from this plane without properly creating the tongue first! He should have focused on allowing us to taste sweets first! If only my Divine pulse worked on that insufferable…"

Byleth and Jeralt tuned out Sothis as they continued with their conversation. "The tongue is merely a side project. I was experimenting with fighting with four arms." Byleth then separated his two arms into four arms to show the fruits of his experimentation.

Jeralt stared stunned at his son before shaking his head. "Kid. Let's NOT give more fuel to the rumor about you being possessed by a demon. What if someone saw you like this?"

"I see no problem if everyone who saw me with four arms ends up dead."

"What about our mercenary troops? Allies?"

"I make sure there are no allies within the vicinity. I plan on only using this when I am alone with a group of enemies."

"What if they see you by accident?"

"Knockout gas mixed with some mushrooms. Followed by a cover-up story. People will believe what makes sense." Jeralt could feel a migraine coming.

"You _really_ don't see the problem with this, do you?"

"People enjoy getting high on those mushrooms…."

"You know what? I don't want to argue with you on this right now. We'll discuss this later. However, judging by how you are now doing some massive structural changes to your body, I'm guessing you made some headway into finding out more about the necrodermis?"

Byleth shook his head. "The only thing I know about necrodermis is that it is actually a collection of trillions of nanoscarabs that behave similarly to human cells in their ability to replicate, repair, and maintain the structure. The similarities end there. The nanoscarabs are able to exist by themselves and do not rot unlike living cells. They are able to move even fly by themselves in order to reach places that need repairs. I still have no idea how they are powered and how to truly manipulate them. So far, I have only managed to coax them into the new positions through brute force by continuously pounding away at the metal until I achieve the desired shape."

"Ah… Well, even Plutonius didn't know how necrodermis works so don't feel too discouraged."

"I am not discouraged, Father. I have completely accepted the fact that the probability of me succeeding in truly understanding my body is 0 percent."

"… I want to eat. Let's go eat." Byleth and Jeralt exited the carriage and began walking towards the mess tent. As Byleth exited the carriage, his shield turned on which gave him the appearance of a young man. How he would have looked were he a flesh and blood human.

"And then I will be sure to sing Despacito in the loudest voice ever to make sure he never sleeps… Hey, where are you going! Wait for me! How dare you two leave without me?" Jeralt blinked before replying, "I can't see you remember?"

Byleth merely shrugged. "Hush. We are outside. No talking."

Jeralt stared with bemusement wondering at what type of spat that Byleth could possibly be having with Sothis at the moment. On the walk to the mess tent, Jeralt and Byleth began talking about their plans for the march to the kingdom. They heard about some sort of party that some nobles were throwing, and they needed some guards. Due to the time constraints of the job, they were forced to cut across inland. Far too close to the church then Jeralt would have liked. He would have far preferred to stay on the outskirts where the church's power was weaker. However, the pay was really good... The faster they moved the better. After they finished with the barn, they planned to stop by a village that trades in fur to stock up on winter clothes.

At a secluded corner in the mess tent, Jeralt watched with amazement as Byleth began consuming bread covered in lard. Due to Byleth's restrictive taste buds, he had a difference sense of taste than normal people. "I still can't believe that you can eat that."

Byleth merely shrugged as he began slathering more lard on his bread until it was completely white. "I lack a digestive system so I'm not truly 'eating'. This bread will only pass through me to be thrown away later. I've already filled up my support system with the necessary nutrient fluids about an hour ago. I'm only chewing on this bread for the taste."

"Yeah…" Jeralt eyed the white bread. "I don't envy you. Also, I know that you won't stop experimenting, but be careful will you? I don't want you to completely irreversibly screw up your body."

"I make sure that I have an ample amount of time snaps before I attempt such modifications." Jeralt saw how Byleth scooted ever so slightly to the side. Probably Sothis screaming at Byleth for calling their crest powers time snaps again instead of Divine pulses. Jeralt quickly finished up the last of his stew and put away the dishes.

"Come on. Let's take a walk. I want to take one last look at this village before we set off tomorrow." The trio decided to take the scenic route around the village. Once they reached the opposite end of the village, one of their captains Nao came running up to them.

"Sir! We have a situation at the eastern side. I believe your presence is needed." Jeralt and Byleth shared a look before they quickly followed Nao who led them to three armored men, all of whom had the mark of the church on their capes. Jeralt immediately grew wary and saw that Byleth immediately went for the sword on his hilt. The leader of the trio turned to face them, and his face lit up in happy surprise. Jeralt, on the other hand, frowned and thoughts of 'why me' was running through his head.

"Captain Jeralt! Is that really you?! We came to this village because we heard that there were mercenaries staying here, but to think I would meet you! The goddess must be smiling down at us today!"

Byleth stared in confusion at his father. Jeralt awkwardly smiled and said a curt, "Hi. It's been a while."

"Huh? What's with that short greeting? Don't you recognize me? It's Alois! You're right-hand man! Err… That's how I thought myself as… It's been 20 years before you went missing without a word! I've heard rumors that you started your own mercenary group, but you always stayed on the outskirts! What are you doing this far inland? No. Now is not the time for catching up. I need your help."

Alois then talked about how their escort was attacked by a group of bandits. As a result, three very important people were kidnapped. Very important was an understatement. The three heirs to their respective kingdoms were kidnapped. Due to the resulting hostage situation and the size of the bandit group, Alois needed more men to launch a rescue attempt. It was why he quickly headed to this village when he heard that there were mercenaries staying.

Jeralt asked for some time alone with Byleth and walked out of earshot. "What do you want to do Byleth?"

"Refusal is not an option, Father?"

"The political fallout will be extremely bad. We will be made an enemy of the church as well as all of Fodlan if the other nobles hear that we abandoned the heirs. Nobody will ever hire us. At the same time, I really don't want to involve myself deeply with the church."

"I feel the same Father. However, we do not have much of a choice, do we?"

"After taking this mission, you do understand that there is a high chance we will be dragged off to Garreg Mach in order for the Archbishop to give her thanks for rescuing the three heirs? Who knows what will happen then?"

"As much as I have no desire to see the woman who turned me into this monster, I cannot run away forever Father. As you and Uncle has taught me, there will come a day when I must stand my ground as a man. I believe the time has come."

Jeralt chuckled. "I'm proud of you. Well, let's see what we can do."

After hours of tracking the bandits and grilling Alois on how the size of the bandit group as well as a description of the hostages, Alois and Jeralt waited near the entrance of an abandoned mine waiting for the signal.

"I'll be damned. Your son actually managed to find them. I thought for sure we lost them once they fled to Oghma Mountains. We would never find them with all the abandoned mine shafts they could flee towards. Yet, here we are. Although… Are you sure that your son will be fine by himself? "

Jeralt laughed in amusement. With all the sensors that Byleth had at his disposal, there was no way a raiding party of that size could escape Byleth. Also, Byleth always had his camouflage shield which had an invisibility mode as well. "This is hardly the first time my son has fought in hostage situations like this. He'll be fine." Jeralt also believed that Sothis would keep Byleth from doing anything stupid.

"I am _bored._ Let's just kill all these bandits, take the hostages, and get out of this dreary place." Deep within the mines, Sothis complained as she floated near Byleth who was currently climbing upside down on the ceiling.

"That is a stupid plan. We must first take the hostage, and _then_ kill the bandits. Otherwise, they will threaten us with the heirs' lives. We must avoid that at all costs. With how useless you are right now, I would say that you are no better than a gnat." Byleth fired back. Sothis gasped before shaking her tiny fists at him.

"How dare you treat your goddess like this!"

"I do not pray to you."

"Well… Then how dare you call your older sister a gnat!"

"I gained consciousness first. You only appeared 5 years after I was born. Thus, you are my younger sister. Following the older sibling rules, I reserve the right to call you a gnat." Sothis glared at Byleth before smiling victoriously.

"I am still at the very least 1000 years older than you. You must treat your elders better! Now apologize."

"I'm sorry."

"Now that's more like it!"

"Grandmother. Does your hip hurt again?" Sothis puffed her cheeks at the insult and was about to go on another tirade before she noticed three tied up individuals. "I believe we found them."

"I found them. You did nothing. Now go to that corner and nurse your broken hips."

Meanwhile the three nobles were having a spat of their own without a clue that another argument was happening right above them without their knowledge. "Claude. I must agree with Edelgard. This is all your fault."

"For the last time! It was you guys who decided to follow me!"

Edelgard glared at Claude. "Because you ran, we were vulnerable to attack from spells and arrows. We had no choice, but to break and run as well."

"Oh c'mon. You could have just used Dimitri as a meat shield."

"I am not unkillable, and I don't appreciate being a meat shield, Claude."

Edelgard cut in before another shouting match could occur. They didn't need to get their mouths gagged. "_Enough!_ Claude, Any ideas for getting out of here!"

Claude shrugged in defeat. "None. The only reason why we have no one watching us right now is that even if we get out of these bonds, there is only one way out of this cave. Our best bet is to just wait for the ransom to come in… Oh yeah… That might not be an option for you Edelgard with how they've been eyeing you…"

Dimitri snapped. "Claude. Watch your tongue. You do not need to remind a lady that she might be.. err…"

Edelgard rolled her eyes. "Of all the people I could be kidnapped with, why you two. What I would give for Hubert right now."

Suddenly a drunk bandit came trampling into the room. His eyes fell on Edelgard, and he began stalking closer with a nasty sneer. Realizing the situation, all three of the nobles began struggling to get out of their bonds, but to no avail. The bandit grabbed Edelgard and whispered, "You look delicious."

Edelgard desperately tried to wiggle away, but it was useless. The bandit's hands moved down, but it never reached its intended destination before a man-shaped shadow smashed down on top of the bandit snapping his back and ending his life in one smooth blow to the head. Edelgard looked up at her savior in shock.

He was a young man who seemed to be in his young 20s dressed in black armor. He had an angled face with dark teal colored hair. His face was expressionless as he calmly dusted his body and wiped away the blood on his fist using the dead bandit's clothes.

It was Claude who asked the million gold question. "Who are you?"

A small pause later, "A mercenary named Byleth. Can you three fight?"

Satisfied with the three nods, he took a dagger from the bandit and cut away the ropes from Claude and Edelgard. Since he couldn't cut the metal chains on Dimitri, he simply snapped them to the three nobles' surprise. He was also ridiculously strong as well.

Edelgard cleared her throat. "Thank you for your most timely assistance. Let me…"

Byleth held up a hand interrupting her. "No time. Who amongst you is the strongest?"

Edelgard and Claude pointed at Dimitri who confirmed with a tentative nod. Byleth handed Dimitri the dagger after motioning to all three of them to stay put before he climbed onto the ceiling and crawled away like a spider. Claude stared at the fading form of the mercenary before turning to Edelgard and Dimitri in disbelief. "Did he just climb up there and just crawl away like a freaking spider?"

Dimitri nodded in amazement. "To be so acrobatic and to be able to get past all those bandits without raising the alarm in addition to finding us in this maze. He must be quite a talented mercenary. He would be an excellent addition to the…"

"I go first."

Dimitri stared at Claude. "Excuse me?"

"I go first when we try to recruit him. He is so going to join the Alliance."

Edelgard butted in. "You cannot just go 'first'. Besides, he saved my dignity. If anything with the merit and talent he has shown so far, it is only fitting that he joins the Empire."

"So you want to punish him for saving you from that bandit? Jeez, that seems harsh to me." Edelgard glared at Claude.

"And you wish to condemn him to a life surrounded by squabbling nobles. I believe that is more of a punishment instead."

"Which is exactly why he would be a perfect fit for the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus." Dimitri butted in.

""And let him freeze to death there?"' Claude and Edelgard both bit back. Before the three heirs could continue fighting, the mercenary suddenly jumped down between them. He handed Edelgard an axe, Dimitri a lance, and Claude a bow and some arrows.

Dimitri stared at the three weapons in shock. "How did you know that we preferred these weapons?"

Byleth shrugged. "Lucky guess from your muscle structures."

Claude widened in disbelief. "You must have quite the keen eyes."

"Thank you. Now, I will explain our plan." Byleth drew a map on the ground with a dagger and began explaining the rooms and the dangers. He explained the goal of timing their escape with the attack from the outside by the mercenaries.

Claude raised his hands. "Can't we just stay here and hold this doorway? They can only enter one at a time so we should be able to hold for a long time."

Byleth shook his head. "They have a haphazardly stacked cart of stolen alcohol… near an open fire. In the chaos of fighting, a fire _will_ break out. In addition.." Byleth pointed to black streaks on the walls. "This used to be a _coal_ mine. We must escape as fast as we can. May I continue?"

Byleth then began to explain the main formation they were going to have as they fought through the tunnels. Dimitri will be in the front with his lance to be supported by Claude. Claude will, in turn, be protected by Edelgard in case they are attacked by behind. Byleth would play the middle ground supporting the weakest points. He then began running possible scenarios and what everybody's roles were in case anything went wrong. "Any questions?"

Edelgard couldn't help but ask, "Have you been trained in tactics?"

Byleth nodded. "Trained by the very best in this world."

Claude whistled. "That's quite the claim."

"It is merely the truth. I never exaggerate."

Dimitri raised his hands. "When will be the signal?"

An explosion rocked the mines shaking the tunnels. "That was the signal. We move."

Dimitri burst out into the main tunnel immediately running into two stunned bandits. Dimitri took out one of the bandits with his lance. The other bandit tried to take a swipe at Dimitri, but the strike was stopped by Byleth who stabbed the bandit in the head. "Keep moving!"

The three younger nobles quickly nodded and assumed the formation and began running down the tunnels. Dimitri's lance prevents the bandits from getting close allowing Claude to snipe away at the bandits. Any bandits that tried to attack from behind were handled by Edelgard's axe. Byleth moved with blinding speed in the front and back, covering for any fatal mistakes that the younger inexperienced fighters make.

Claude smelled smoke from behind him and widened with fear at the encroaching wall of fire. "Uhh… Mr. Byleth? We've got a problem!"

Byleth looked at the fire with an even face and gestured to one of the intersecting rooms. "Detour!"

The three nobles nodded and followed the mercenary's orders without a question. They ended up in a room surrounded by 10 bandits. Pushing back Dimitri before he could be skewered by 3 arrows, Byleth immediately moved forward tearing apart the attempted ambush with ease using fighting styles that the three nobles have never seen before. He was a force of nature, a whirlwind of death. It was as if he could predict every move his opponents could make in advance.

"Stealth, tactics, can seem to use every weapon with ease. Who is this guy?" Claude whistled in appreciation. He winced when he saw Byleth punch a guy hard enough to splatter his opponent's brains out. "Freakishly strong, too."

A scream from behind shook the heirs from their stupor. Claude fumbled with his arrow, but before a dagger entered his torso, a thrown lance took out the would-be killer. Byleth glared at the three. "Focus."

He then saw how tired the three young nobles were and the state of their weapons. "We switch formations. You three are getting too tired. I will lead. Follow after I give the clear."

Byleth then burst into one of the tunnels, and screams of terror echoed out before silence settled. Byleth poked his head out of the tunnel and said, "Clear."

Things continued in this fashion with Byleth entering the tunnels ahead of the trio to clear out the enemies. However, at one of the intersections, Kostas with a small group of his fellow bandits came across the three nobles when Byleth had gone ahead in a different tunnel.

"There you three are!" Kostas screamed as he charged at the three. Claude fire off his last two arrows, managing to take out two of the charging bandits. Dimitri was forced to handle three other bandits who were trying to get past the reach of his lance. Kostas went straight for Edelgard and managed to shatter her axe.

"You are mine you bitch!" Edelgard braced for the following attack, but she suddenly found herself pushed out of the way. Once she managed to shake off her dizziness, she stared up to an impossible sight. She was expecting a dead mercenary, but what she saw was Byleth shrugging off the pieces of a broken axe as the other stared at him in shock.

"My goddess!"

"It's the Ashen Demon!"

"Run away!" Kostas and the others disengaged and ran down the other tunnel. Dimitri quickly rushed up to the mercenaries and was going to check on the cut, but a hand from Byleth stopped him.

"I am fine."

"You are most definitely not fine. You just got cut at with an axe!" Dimitri protested.

"It failed to penetrate. There is no need for worry. Does my face look like I am in pain?" The entire time the mercenary was digging through his pockets as if searching for something. When he reached a pocket with a massive hole at the bottom, he facepalmed.

"To be fair, I don't think your expression changed at all ever since we met you, but if you say you are fine, we'll believe you. You must have quite the skin to be able to block an axe." Claude quipped with a nervous chuckle.

Byleth peaked at Claude through his fingers before giving some sort of weak excuse of being a crest power before turning around and gestured to the three to follow him. "We are almost there."

Sure enough, they soon met up with the rest of the mercenaries. Sothis leaned closer to Byleth's ear and whispered, "You are in so much trouble."


	4. Chapter 4

**Son of a ****. This chapter was hard to write, but it was quite an experience trying to write a part of the chapter from Byleth's point of view. The biggest problem I faced was trying to figure out a way to convey Byleth analyzing multiple points at the same time. Maybe as I practice this writing style some more, I'll get better, but don't expect too many chapters from Byleth's pov. His is a pain in the ass to write.**

Visual Input/ Sothis: Floating 30cm to the left with a teasing expression

Telepathic Input/ Source/ Sothis: "You are in so much trouble."

Analysis of statement: most likely scenario: Sothis tattles to Father regarding the recent event

Clarify recent event?

Negative/ Organize in subconscious mode

Beginning organization in subconscious mode

Actions: Standby, Diplomacy, Conflict, Flee

Standby Confirmed. Additional Commands?

Begin preparing defense retorts for later use.

Wanted reaction from retorts? Sadness, Anger, Humor, Traumatize

Humor: move work to subconscious mode/ Next three hours humor is to be first option

Beginning work in subconscious mode

Respond to statement?

Negative

Ignore?

Affirmative

Escalate to silent treatment

….

Escalate to silent treatment?

Negative

Possibility of scolding from Jeralt?

90%

Contingency plans?

Blackmail Sothis: Not enough data Success rate 10%

Abort

Threaten Sothis: Memory Database: High likelihood of Sothis laughing it off: Success rate 5%

Abort

Break Sothis Voice modul…. **Interference from memory: Forced to listen to Sothis screeching for 10 hours + scolding from both uncle and father**

Run pro/con analysis

Analysis: Not recommended in this situation

Abort

Bribery/ Data/ Desires to taste sweets/ Bribery possible

Clarify Bribery Possible Bribery data: 1

Bribery data clarified: Elevate tongue development to higher priority so Sothis could eat sweets faster

Proceed with Bribery?

Error/ Interference of intuition from biological portion

Clarify?

Clarification: Father (Jeralt) will find out even if Sothis remains silent Bribing Sothis to stay silent will be useless

Abort Bribery. Continue with contingency plans

Elimination of Witnesses/ Evidence?

Denied on grounds of murder being last resort/ Return should threat level of witnesses increase

Reason with Father?

Type of reason?

Only show memories with 70% similarity or more to current situation

Example from Uncle/ memory when Uncle tries to convince Jeralt to take me to a brothel

Use this memory?

Negative

Example from Uncle/ memory when Uncle tries to explain reason for delaying voice modulator for Sothis

Use this memory?

Negative

Example from Father/ trying to rip off a noble for more money

Use this memory?

Negative

Example from Uncle/ memory when Uncle tries to explain to a tavern owner why it was necessary to burn down the tavern in a bar fight

Use this memory?

Affirmative

Possibility of Success: 30%

Confirm Action

If failure, apologize

Increase CPU to create more contingency plans in exchange for pain (headache) and lower efficiency?

Denied

Visual Input/ Iron Fist Mercenaries+ Church knights (Threat level: Yellow)

Current actions: Church Knights approaching rescued hostages. Seems to be checking for health of hostages. Iron Fist Mercenaries (listing individual names: Finnius, Karios,… Overide: Compress) approaching me. Patting me on the back.

Audio Input/Compressed summary/ Source/ Iron Fist Mercenaries: Good Job! Knew you could do it. You really live up to your reputation, huh?

Analysis: Praising…

Nothing of importance/ Continue analysis in subconscious mode

Analysis moved to subconscious mode

Response: nod and shake hands

Visual Input/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire (Threat level: green)

Current Action: Approaching

Enter battle mode?

Negative/ Standby

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire: "Allow me to properly thank you for rescuing me. I shudder to think what would have happened if you did not take the blow for me."

Analysis: Thanking me for rescuing her

Respond?

Affirmative

Choices: Job, Flirt, Tsundere, Curt, Nod, Asshole

Job

Response: "It was my job. There is no need to thank me."

Visual Input/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire: Shaking head

Analysis: Disagreement

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire: "Even so, I highly doubt that any other mercenary risk his life as you have done."

Analysis: My decision was unique for my profession

Respond?

Affirmative

Choices: Brag, Flirt, Tsundere, Curt, Correction

Correction

Response: "My life was not at risk."

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire: "Yes. I have been meaning to ask you of that. How did you manage to survive the hit without a single wound? I know of no crests that can do that."

Analysis: She is onto my secret

**WARNING WARNING WARNING**

**Premade contingency plans will be uploaded into subconscious mode in standby mode so they are ready for quick transfer into consciousness and action**

**Current recommendation: Defuse situation**

Respond?

Affirmative

Choices: Deflect, Lie, Question, Offensive

Deflect

Response: "I do not believe you have properly introduced yourself to me."

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Adrestrian Empire: "Oh my. Forgive my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Edelgard, crown princess of the Adrestrian Empire."

Analysis: She… move analysis to subconscious

Visual Input/ Heir of Leicester Alliance and Heir of Faerghus: Noticed Edelgard and approaching

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Leicester Alliance: "Oh cool. Are we introducing ourselves right now? My turn. I am known as Claude. I am the heir to House Riegan of the Leicester Alliance. Pleased to meet you."

Move analysis to subconscious

Visual Input/ Holding out hand

Response?

Shake hand

Auditory Input/Source/ Heir of Holy Kingdom of Faerghus: "And I am Dimitri, the crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus."

Move analysis to subconscious/ Auto-move simple analysis to subconsciousness for this conversation

Visual Input/ Holding out hand

Response?

Shake hand

Auditory Input/Source/ Claude: "So Edelgard… I thought we made the agreement that I was first?"

Analysis: Not enough data. Unable to understand hidden meaning of first

Auditory Input/Source/ Edelgard: "We made no such agreement. Besides, I was merely thanking Byleth for saving my life."

Auditory Input/Source/ Dimitri: "Yes. Your handling of the situation was simply captivating. Despite the unpredictability of the battle, you never lost control. Not to mention your battle prowess. You have shown me that I still have much to learn."

Auditory Input/Source/ Edelgard: "Yes. Your skill is precisely why I must ask you to consider lending your services to the Empire. There are many benefits that I can offer…"

Auditory Input/Source/ Claude: "Hold up. Are you seriously just barging straight into recruitment? Have some tact!"

Auditory Input/Source/ Edelgard: "Hah. Pot calls the kettle black. When have you ever shown tact, Claude? When you fled the battlefield and left us Dimitri and me to fend for ourselves?"

Auditory Input/ Source/ Dimitri: "Perhaps you would consider entering my employment? My kingdom will be sure to…"

Auditory Input/Source/ Claude and Edelgard: "Hold up!"

Current situation has devolved into squabbling between the three royalty. Squabbling about which place of birth is better and which can offer better benefits. Now has devolved into insults for each other.

Action: Break it up, sneak off, stay

Sneak off

Preparing to sneak off

Auditory Input/Source/ Father: "So what's going on here?"

Action: Sneak off/ interrupted

Auditory Input/ Source/ Dimitri: "Ah Sir Jeralt! I have heard many stories about you! It is a great pleasure to finally meet the great Blade Breaker. We were merely discussing how well Byleth here handled our hostage situation. You have quite the skilled man in your mercenary company."

Auditory Input/Source/ Father: "*Chuckles* Thank you. I'm glad you are impressed with my son."

Visual Input/ Claude, Edelgard, Dimitri: Expressions of shock

Snap photo memory for future reference

File under funny memories

Auditory Input/Source/Claude: "*splutters* You are the _Blade Breaker's_ son?"

Response: nod

Visual Input/ Dimitri: Nodding with an understanding expression

Auditory Input/ Source/ Dimitri: "Judging from what I have seen, I do not doubt those words."

Auditory Input/Source/Edelgard: "I agree. However, I must know for sure now. Where does your allegiance lie, Byleth?"

Analysis: This decision will have an impact on the development of relationship with the three heirs. Caution is recommended.

Response? Flee, Divert, Choo…

Interruption: Telepathic Input/ Source/ Sothis: "Hmm… It seems one's place of birth is quite significant to them. Yet, they are so impressed by you that, you may take your pick…"

Interrupt?

Affirmative

Respond?

Emotion of annoyance causes an auto select of sarcasm

Telepathic Response: "No shit Sherlock. Now let me process this development."

Soft mute Sothis

Confirmed. Muting Sothis

Continue Response

Flee, Divert, Choose, Bullshit Diplomacy

Divert

Put Father in spotlight

**ERROR ERROR**

Visual Input/ Father: Quietly fleeing away. Made eye contact. Waving good bye.

Analysis: He has abandoned me.

Diplomacy

Comparing situation to memories

Found memory with 79.6% similarity: when father was explaining to two nobles why he will not enter into a permanent services with neither

Adapting to current situation

Response: "I have traveled through all three places and seen the strengths and weaknesses of each nation. Yet from my experiences, I have found traveling to help those in need far more appealing than pledging allegiance to a single noble. As a result, I consider myself not a part of the Alliance, Kingdom, nor Empire, but a Fodlander above all else."

Visual Input/ Edelgard, Claude, Dimitri: Eyes widened and nodding

Analysis: seems shocked by my answer, yet at the same time impressed.

Diplomacy success

Recommendation: run away before more unwanted questions can be asked

Speak: "I have suddenly remembered that I must go do something."

Action: Walk away with purpose

Reminder: Sothis is still softly muted.

Would you like to unmute?

Affirm…. Negative/ Ask again 10 minutes later


	5. Chapter 5

Jeralt breathed a heavy sigh as he made his rounds to make sure that the patrols were properly set, and there were no conflicts erupting between his mercenaries and the knights of Seiros. Due to the history behind some of his men as well as Byleth's and Plutonius's teachings, the current situation was a powder keg waiting to explode. It was another reason why Jeralt wished to avoid the church.

After the hostages were secured, the mercenaries and the knights blockaded the only exit and cut down any bandits that tried to escape the raging fire that blazed within the coal mine. They accepted no prisoners because even if they were to capture the bandits, the result would have only been death by hanging. The bandits knowing this fought to the death. The result was a complete annihilation of the bandits and a crushing victory. Sure enough after the battle, Alois invited them to come to Garreg Mach, and with no reason to refuse, they had no choice but to accept lest they face the political consequences.

It seems Sothis was right about how things were now set in motion. Jeralt could feel deep down that something big was coming. Jeralt was never a big believer in fate, but the current events were starting to make him more open-minded about how some things just cannot be avoided. When Jeralt reached the end of the tree line, Jeralt saw Byleth by himself maintaining his carbon steel sword. Remembering an interesting tidbit of information from speaking with Alois, he decided to clarify it with Byleth.

He sat down next to Byleth who merely returned a nod to acknowledge his father's presence. Jeralt then proceeded to place himself in a position where he would be able to quickly grab Byleth should he decide to run. Byleth noticing the position his father was taking slowed down in his sharpening movement and stared at his father with the blank emotionless face. After a short stare down, Jeralt decided to talk.

"First, I wanted to congratulate you on rescuing those three hostages. It shouldn't have been easy to get all three off them out due to that sudden underground fire breaking out, but you did. I hear that the nobles had nothing, but praise for your abilities."

"It was simply my j…" A raised eyebrow from his father cut Byleth's sentence short. "Thank you for the praise father. As you have said, it was no easy matter. I had to use up all my time snaps due to that fire."

_So that's why Sothis has been quiet so far, Jeralt thought. She's probably napping from using so much power today. _

Byleth continued with his complaints. "It was no easy feat trying to predict the best routes to take that will not result in the three hostages burning or suffocating to death. In addition, while the three nobles were skilled, their lack of experience and teamwork was in full display so I had a difficult time trying to keep the formation together and insuring their mistakes did not turn fatal."

"Good to hear you getting better at complaining. It's good to let go of your frustrations once in a while." Byleth nodded in response. "So, it was that difficult, huh?"

"Yes, Father. It is not an experience I wished to repeat. Due to the time constraints placed by the fire, the lack of training from the nobles, and the nobles' political importance, it was difficult computing proper courses of actions. If the fire was not there, it would have been easy to simply stay in one place at a narrow corridor and wait for reinforcements. If the nobles were properly trained with fighting on the field instead of duels, I would not have had to constantly spend a large portion of my CPU trying to compute actions that would keep them alive. If the nobles were not very important, I would have knocked them out and been able to exhibit my full strength without leaders of future nations seeing my true combat abilities. I am positive that if they knew what I was truly capable of, they would be pestering me endlessly to add me to their service."

Jeralt laughed. "So now you know how _I_ felt when we were roaming the countryside as mercenaries, huh?"

"Is that why you abandoned me back then?"

"Yeah consider that revenge for all the times you replied with, 'Father, as the leader of the Iron Fists, it is imperative to maintain cordial relationships with the nobles we meet. Now put on this suit and let us go to the ball' every time I wanted to just take the money and go to avoid those damn celebrations."

Byleth nodded sagely. "So this is another form of revenge. I will file this for later use."

Jeralt chuckled in good humor. "I remember all the times I gave shit to Plutonius for teaching you all sorts of weird shit. Now you are learning bad habits from me."

"I am also learning good habits from you as well." Jeralt in response looped his arms around Byleth and said, "Thanks kid."

"Father. We are still out in public. If you are to touch me, please touch my clothes or armor, not my skin as it will interfere with the illusion." Jeralt realizing his mistake quickly pulled his arm away from Byleth and looked around to make sure that nobody saw Jeralt's arm entering into Byleth's "skin" and exposing the metal interior that the illusion tried to hide.

"Nobody saw that, right?"

"No, Father."

"That's good. You know… speaking about people seeing things that they aren't supposed to see, I had a talk with Alois who asked me what type of crest you had, considering that you were able to take a hit with a direct hit with an axe, yet survive without even a scratch if _all three_ of the noble's words are to be believed." Jeralt quickly lifted up a hand to stop Byleth from replying. "Let me finish. I'm not mad about your mishap. It was a stressful situation, and I trust you enough to know that you don't easily commit mistakes like this."

Byleth stood still. If one knew Byleth for a long period of time, it was clear he was in shock. "… It seems I need to update my data…"

"Bet all your fancy little computational skills told you that I was going to scold you, huh? Well, let this be another reminder that humans can be very difficult to predict even if the person is family. The sooner you accept that, the better. Now where was I… Ah yes. Your mishap. How did you handle that by the way? I'm surprised you didn't drug them with that proud mushroom gas of yours. It would have been easy to play it off as the smoke getting to the noble's head or something."

"The gas bomb fell out of a rip in my pocket. As for the nobles, I have succeeded in merely diverting their attention to that detail for now." Jeralt sighed.

"Diversion will only take you so far. For the foreseeable future, we will be traveling with these nobles, and they may confront you directly over what happened. Now, I am sure that you have some.. contingency… plans?" Jeralt noticed how more robotic Byleth became all of a sudden. How his eyes became unnaturally focused, his posture unnaturally straight, and all human touches disappearing. "Byleth. You do have contingency plans, right?"

"Father. All my contingency plans were centered around extortion, bribery, threatening, drugging, time snaps, and elimination. Most of these plans were centered around on people who are relatively disposable. How was I supposed to know that I would end up rescuing the _crown_ prince and princess of each respective nation at the same time with little to no preparation? I have a higher chance of getting hit by a meteor than this situation occurring." Jeralt had nothing more to say. His son was right.

"Okay. But you do have some ideas, right?"

"Ideas… yes. However, I do not have much data to properly establish an optimal contingency plan. The results may be… undesirable."

Jeralt narrowed his eyes. "How undesirable?"

"Father. If I mess up, how do you feel about moving to Archanea?"

"How badly do you have to mess up that we have to flee to an entirely different continent that is across the Forbidden Ocean?"

"Relax Father. The possibility that we must flee is only 10%. There is a higher chance that I start a war."

"… Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"How does becoming the father of the new king of Fodlan feel for you?"

"… How in Seiros's tits do you go that far! Wait… just what exactly are you basing all these calculations on?"

"Your lessons on the political structure of Fodlan, dealing with nobility, and the stories from Uncle." Jeralt sighed. Yes… His stories… That made sense.

"Remove the stories from Plutonius from your calculations. This isn't _Game of Thrones_."

"Understood Father." Byleth went quiet as he began recalculating. Jeralt was now waffling if he should go or if he should stay and make sure that Byleth doesn't reach a weird conclusion.

"Hey, Captain! Captain Jeralt An argument broke out between a knight and one of our captains!" One of the newbies came running full speed to where Jeralt was sitting and screamed his report at the top of his lungs. Jeralt cursed as he was afraid of something like this occurring. He began running before things could escalate into a full-blown duel to the death. He prayed that Sothis would wake up soon and stop Byleth from doing anything stupid.

Byleth continued to stay in stasis for a couple more minutes. Sothis reappeared next to Byleth, yawned, and then waved her hands in front of Byleth who turned his head to stare at his adopted sister/ potential goddess.

"So… Watcha thinking about? You look like you are going to blow a fuse!"

Byleth shook his head at Sothis. "You are mistaken. My body does not use fuses."

"You know very well what I meant." Sothis said as she hissed at Byleth in annoyance. "Also, I demand that you treat me nicer after you muted me like that today! It seems you forgot what happened last time you muted me like that."

A small amount of adrenaline entered Byleth's system. Immediately, Byleth regained control of his more human side and suppressed it. He could not show Sothis any weakness at this moment or it will turn into fuel for future verbal spars. It was imperative to show a strong font to her threats even if it made Byleth wary. He very well remembered what happened last time.

As a result, Byleth merely returned an overexaggerated shrug as if he did not care, and he decided to ponder over his course of action instead of regretting his decision to mute Sothis. So far, he has come to the conclusion that he needed more data about the three nobles before he could make a proper contingency plan. He was confident that he could delay or distract the three nobles until a proper course of action was plotted. In addition, he could always count on the unreliability of human memories to warp the memory into something that Byleth can take advantage of. Byleth programmed 'delay and reconnaissance' as his current course of action regarding the current situation.

On the other side of the camp, Claude himself was doing a bit of reconnaissance himself. His focus was on the mercenary named Byleth. Claude knows what he saw, and no matter how he replayed the memory, there was just no way that Byleth could have survived that hit with not even a scratch. The only possible explanation was a crest, but even that was a stretch. Claude knew that crests gave immense power, but the ability to withstand a full-on attack from a battle-ax with nary a scratch? Not to mention that the battle-ax shattered on impact… Forget crests. This was bordering on inhuman. The mystery only deepened when he learned that Byleth was the son of the _legendary _Blade Breaker. THE Blade Breaker. There has to be a reason for why it was never announced that the Blade Breaker himself had a child. For a celebrity like Sir Jeralt to have a child, but no news or gossip of such a child? Why?

Claude didn't like mysteries, and he needed answers. What better way to learn about this Byleth than to ask the very people who have worked with him for so long? If Claude liked the answers he hears, he'll have to up his recruitment strategies. A person like Byleth would be a huge boon in achieving his dreams…

Claude shook his head. It was best not to get ahead of himself. First, he needed information. He quickly went to the mess tent and nabbed a couple of snacks like jerky and some wine when the cooks weren't looking. Afterward, he walked around until he found a suitable group that was lazing around a campfire. It seemed a veteran of the Iron Fists was entertaining the newer recruits. Perfect.

"And so we charged straight into the backs of those unsuspecting rebels. Cut down at least three of them before those stupid assholes even realized that we actually managed to sneak up the walls. Who would have thought that a thirteen-year-old brat could have predicted an ambush from there of all places? After that victory, none of us questioned his orders ever again. So, now here I was… Oh! Your highness! What can I do for you?" The mercenary quickly cut short his story as he noticed the heir of House Riegan approaching the group.

"Please. Do I look like a "your highness" right now? Let's do away with the formalities. Call me Claude." Claude extended his hand to the bearded mercenary. After warily staring at the extended hand, he cautiously accepted Claude's handshake.

"And you can call me Jeffery… This isn't a joke, your lordship? Most nobles I know demand that I call them by their full title should I need to say their name…" Claude quickly waved it off as he began handing out snacks to everyone's delight.

"Well, I can say for certain that I am not like most nobles." Claude followed what he said with a wink to everyone. Jeffery merely shrugged.

"Alright then. I'll take your word for it then. Claude." Claude reassuringly smiled at the mercenary. Slightly reassured, Jeffery cautiously inquired. "So what brings you over here?"

"Well, I've noticed that you were telling some stories, and I wanted to listen in on some of them."

Jeffery nodded in understanding. "Ahh… Wanted to listen in on some battlefield stories, huh?"

"Why, yes. It must be pretty exciting to be a part of a mercenary company lead by famous Blade Breaker. I'm positive that you have some incredible stories you could share."

Jeffery laughed. "Oh yeah. I've seen all sorts of shi- err.." Claude motioned to Jeffery for him to go on. "*Cough* I've seen some shit in my 10 years fighting as one of the Iron Fists. Any particular stories?"

"Well, I've just met Captain Jeralt's son. I'm really curious about him. You would think that more people would know that the Blade Breaker had a son, but I just found out today. So, any… stories.. about… him?" Claude noticed how Jeffery's mood sort of soured a bit.

"Kid… er… Claude… I know that you nobles like to scheme and politic around, but I highly don't recommend f**king with the Blade Breaker's son. He is a great ally to have on your side, but when he is your enemy, you want to run as far away as possible. The last nobles to screw with him did not get a happy ending" Claude slightly narrowed his eyes.

"Now this sounds like a story I would want to hear."

Jeffery shrugged and turned to the newer recruits. "Well, might as well turn this into a lesson for the newbies as well. How many of you know of the other name Byleth is known as?"

Over half of the newer recruits raised their hands while the others shook their heads. Jeffery did a quick scan around to make sure that Byleth was nowhere near hearing range before he leaned in and began whispering, "This is sort of a stupid little superstition between the members of the company, but we never say this name in front of Byleth. Why? Well, the only people who tend to call him this name to his face tends to be people he are about to kill… That and we respect him too much. He is also known as the 'Ashen Demon'."

One of the newer recruits asked the question that Claude had in mind. "Why that name?"

Jeffery nervously chuckled. _"Well, you asked that question to the right man. Because I was one of the few to actually see it. You see about three or so years ago we were in the northern borders of the Kingdom freezing our balls off. We were tasked with wiping out some slavers who were kidnapping villagers to sell across the border. The royalty gave an order to the nobles to wipe out the slavers, but the knights and nobles were too lazy to get their asses away from the cozy fireplaces, so they hired us to do the hunting for them."_

_"So here I was trying to keep my feet from turning blue when all of a sudden I heard the alarm bell go off. It seemed that some of the nobles were actually working with the slavers for a cut of the profits so they tipped them off that we were hunting them down. It resulted in the hunters becoming the hunted. We were ambushed in the middle of the night during the new moon. We were completely caught off guard since all of us were bundled up in furs trying to stay warm... Many of us were cut down before we could even draw our weapons. I've lost my best friend that night." Jeffery paused as he stared into the fire with a far away look in his eyes._

_"In order to buy some time, Byleth and the Captain charged ahead and managed to focus most of the enemies attention on them. I was one of the first people to recover, and one of the few to not run away as I quickly ran over to help out our tactician and leader. A good mate of mine and I rushed the slavers, and we managed to take out two of them before the slavers even realized that reinforcements came. My buddy paired up with Byleth while I fought.. well.. err… tried to fight back to back with the Blade Breaker himself because my mind just caught up with the actions of my dumb youthful impulsiveness. It was us four vs. about 30 of them." _Jeffery paused to take a good look at the eager listeners.

"_Let me tell you that the Blade Breaker earned his name alright. With every swing of his sword, the wind rippled around us, and if you block his strikes incorrectly? Well you can kiss that sword good bye. I have never seen so many swords shatter in my life before that day. So here was our captain being the badass he was, while I was going ring around the rosy around a couple of the carriages, trying to avoid getting five swords stuck up my ass_." A laughter erupted from the listeners. Jeffery waited for the laughter to die down before continuing with his story.

"_Soon more and more of us were gathering, and Byleth was shouting orders at the reinforcements to not join in on the fighting, but to begin encircling the slavers. After that, we started moving deeper into camp to make it easier for the others to encircle the slavers. Some of the slavers realized what we were doing and ran off, but most were trying finish us four off. After all, they weren't going to successfully ambush us again, and this was probably their only chance to kill the Blade Breaker and his son with numbers. We were about to completely encircle them, but that was when things went completely wrong._"

"_A massive wind picked up, and a blizzard appeared out of nowhere. Now, this wasn't any old blizzard, but one that had all of the goddess's wrath behind it. It was difficult to see even a few feet ahead with all the snow and wind buffeting your eyes. Even the ever calm and collected Byleth was thrown into confusion from the sudden change in weather. That was all the opening a hammer-wielding slaver needed. He dashed in, activated his crest, and smashed his hammer straight into Byleth's chest. I thought that was the end of the Blade Breaker' son. But instead I saw something else." _Jeffery paused to let the tension rise amongst the listener.

"What did you see?" One of the youngsters couldn't wait and asked.

"_I saw how the skin and hair slowly faded away from our respected tactician to reveal it. The demon. That's right. There is a reason why Byleth is so expressionless, almost like he is soulless. There is a reason why he has the strength of a hundred men and why no weapons can harm him. The son of the legendary Blade Breaker is partially possessed by a demon." _ A gasp arose from the audience members. Claude himself raised an eyebrow at the claim. "_Afterwards, when confronted with this issue, the Captain simply dismissed our claims. He said that the sudden blizzard and the craziness of the fight messed with our eyes, and many believed him. After all, like I said before, the blizzard made it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of you. Eventually, people moved on, and it simply became something of a title like the Blade Breaker. But I was the closest, and I know what I saw. That was no hallucination. There really is a demon lurking underneath Byleth's skin."_

"What did the demon look like?"

"_The demon's body wasn't made of flesh. It was made of some type of ashen metal with a harsh deathly glow of green shining from the eyes and chest. Now, this demon wasn't anything like those demonic beasts that we sometimes fight in our travels. Those demonic beasts are mere beasts, but this demon… This demon gave off the feeling of.. a ballista or a siege tower… something like a… a war machine. Yeah. A war machine. As if someone took the human body and forged it into a body more suitable for the ravages of war. A body stripped of flesh, of mortality, even its soul. That is the demon that resides within Byleth." _Nervous whispering spread throughout the recruits.

"Aren't you afraid? Why do you still follow his orders if he is possessed?"

Jeffery chuckled. "Newbies. As mercenaries, we only care about two things: money and our lives. I don't care if Byleth is the goddess damned revival of Nemesis, but as long as he pays us all on time, and he keeps us all alive, I am satisfied. In fact, the safest place on the battlefield is being right next to him. Not only that, but I owe Captain Jeralt and Plutonius a lot. I was born into a noble family, but I lacked a crest so I was thrown out onto the streets. It was the Iron Fists who picked me up and gave me a new life. I can never thank them enough, and if they trust Byleth, then so will I. Besides, he has never done anything that would cause doubt in him. I trust him, and so should all of you. You have no idea how many times he has saved my ass, and we have never lost a battle thanks to him after all. He is the best ally you hope to ever get."

"So what happened afterwards?"

_"Ah right. Back to the story. Let's just say after seeing the demon, the attacker promptly crapped his pants. This wasn't a simple crap, but a full avalanche of crap. I kid you not, his pants just turned full on brown as the demon just stared him down. Then the demon brought his hands up into a fist and crushed his skull with one blow. All the slavers nearest to Byleth ran away screaming 'demon' at the top of their lungs. As for me, I was just lying on the ground praying to the goddess that the demon doesn't notice me. It was then that the Captain came over and threw a cloak over his kid. Seeing the Captain act so normally around that demon sort of calmed my nerves so I just decided to ignore what and walked away as fast as possible. It was after the ambush was over, and we were looting the slavers bodies that we noticed that one of the slavers was wearing the ring of one of the two noble houses that hired us for this mission." _

_At first, we thought little of it, but when we went back to get our payment from the one of the said noble house, they were shocked to say the least. In addition, they refused to pay us and told us to leave or face the consequences. After that, it didn't take a genius to put the pieces together. We were played to say the least. So as we are walking away from the castle, I noticed that Byleth was pissed. And I mean PISSED." _Disbelieving faces came from the listeners. Jeffery noticed this and quickly clarified what he meant. "_I know. I know. That seems hard to believe that our stone-face tactician can show emotion. But that's only if you are looking at his face. His expression never changes, but his body posture, the way he walks, the way he moves. They all just screamed anger. So when we decided to camp a couple of fields from the castle, he suddenly disappeared."_

_"To this day, he will deny everything, but it was quite obvious why he disappeared. You see, sometime later, we noticed that the castle in the distance was burning. We started to get curious and began discussing what happened, until suddenly like the mad lad he was Byleth comes popping out of the trees with three sacks filled to the brim with gold. He then talked about how he did some aggressive negotiations with the noble and convinced him to pay us our dues." _

_"He then told us to keep our mouths shut if we wanted to be paid. So that's what we did. All of us were quite pissed off at the noble anyway. Now a week passed, and I was drinking at a tavern with the money from that day when I heard some gossip about how there was infighting between two noble houses with one of the noble's castle burning down and the noble himself ending up dead from the resulting fight. The other noble was condemned to death for his crime of murder and property damage. Now here is the clincher. Both of the nobles were involved in that slavery fiasco, and the one that was murdered was the noble that Byleth did the 'aggressive negotiations' with to get our gold. Heck, we even got to see the castle burn down in the distance. Coincidence? I think not. But, like the smart man I was, I kept my mouth shut. If he can do that to a couple of relatively powerful nobles, think of what he can do to me if I piss him off. So yeah, lesson of the day is don't f*ck with Byleth. He will be your best ally, but a nightmare of an enemy. As long as he is on your side, you are guaranteed to win. If you are facing him as an enemy, start running. His title as the Ashen Demon is rightly earned." _


End file.
